Baltimore Ravens Find "Morale" Victory in Loss to New England Patriots

There are no moral victories, but the Ravens can parlay their morale-boosting performance in the 27-21 loss to the New England Patriots into the rest of their run to the Super Bowl.

The Ravens have never beaten the New England Patriots, and in the previous tries, they rarely looked like they should have.  The memorable 2007 contest was in the midst of a tumultuous campaign of injuries and losses, and was played by a Ravens team running on fumes of prideful motivation.

Yesterday's game, though, was one that the Ravens were expected to compete in, and somewhat expected to win.  The Patriots haven’t been a bad team in a long time, and are just beginning to reassert themselves on both sides of the ball.  By any measure, either team could have come away with a win feeling like they escaped Alcatraz, and either team could have come away with a loss, happy to have competed so closely.

Fate had the Ravens drawing the short end of the stick, but should have no long faces on the plane home.  Missed opportunities did them in.  Controversial calls did them in.  Those things can, and likely will, be fixed.  The offense did its thing, as it has through every game.  The defense, still prone to big plays, held just enough for the team to have a chance at victory with minutes left in the game.

For everyone chiding Mark Clayton on the fourth-down dropped pass, consider his three catches on the final drive for 30 yards.  Clayton has finally arrived as a receiver of repute, and will continue to be a big part of the Ravens’ future offensive success.

The Ravens would be the last group to hear anything about a moral victory, but they’ll be the first to claim a stronger morale out of this loss.